Synopsis
Koushi Sugawara is Karasuno's vice-captain and backup setter, who joined the volleyball club as a first-year alongside Daichi Sawamura and Asahi Azumane, back when the team had no proper coach at all. Even after Kageyama eventually took over as starting setter, Sugawara never considered stepping away, continuing to contribute as the team's pinch server.
Gentle and supportive by nature, Sugawara is the one who steadies the team's morale and talks teammates through rough patches, despite rarely starting official matches himself. It's Sugawara who devises the hand-signal system behind Hinata and Kageyama's quick attack, and who always seems to find the right words for the team's underclassmen. That warmth has a firmer edge, though — when genuinely provoked, Sugawara can be just as intimidating as Daichi.
After graduating, Sugawara became an elementary school teacher in Miyagi Prefecture.
